Wendy Long

On Sunday, October 30, Time Warner Cable News will host a debate between US Senator Chuck Schumer and his opponent, Wendy Long. Schumer, a Democrat, was first elected in 1998 and is poised to become the next Democratic leader. Long, a Republican, is an attorney who also ran in 2012. This is is the only debate the two have agreed to do before Election Day on November 8. It will be moderated by Capital Tonight host Liz Benjamin and NY1’s Errol Louis in front of a live audience at Union College’s Nott Memorial in Schenectady.
The hour-long debate will air live at 8 pm on Time Warner Cable News channels across New York State and online at twcnews.com.

Rep. Lee Zeldin, a freshman Republican from Suffolk County, has endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long in her bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Chuck Schumer.

Both Long and Zeldin are vocal supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“Wendy is someone I know personally to be deeply committed to helping make our state and country even better by helping grow our economy and create jobs, strengthening our national security, protecting our veterans and improving health care and education. I endorse Wendy Long for U.S. Senate,” Zeldin said.

Long, who is making her second bid for the U.S. Senate after losing to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012, praised Zeldin’s record in Congress. Zeldin is running for re-election in a battleground House district against Democrat Anna Throne-Holst.

“I’m grateful for Congressman Zeldin’s endorsement, for his military service to our nation, and for his honest and vigilant representation of the people of New York’s First congressional district,” Long said.

“I hope to follow his leadership on many issues including bringing great jobs back to our state, getting our veterans the care and honor they deserve, defeating ISIS, securing our homeland, and fixing the ongoing disaster that is the Iran nuclear agreement.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long on Friday was endorsed by Hudson Valley Rep. Chris Gibson in her bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Chuck Schumer.

Gibson, who is retiring at the end of the year from the 19th congressional district, called Long a “principled leader” who is the kind of elected official needed in Washington.

“Wendy would continue to champion a number of the causes that I have worked hard on in Congress, bringing the voices of her constituents to the Senate,” Gibson said in a statement. “Wendy is against onerous, high-stakes testing and the Common Core regime and would work for policies that would help our small business and family farms across New York State thrive.”

Gibson had considered a potential run for governor in 2018, but ultimately dropped the nascent campaign and will instead teach at Williams College.

Gibson has staked out a more moderate claim on policy during his time in office and while Long has lashed her campaign to Donald Trump’s bid to the presidency, Gibson has been more circumspect of the businessman’s policies.

“Congressman Gibson is the kind of legislator I would like to emulate,” Long said.

“He has a heart to serve his country, state, and fellow citizens — not to turn that service into personal gain or influence peddling. He understands and loves our Constitution and self-government enough to walk away in the example of a true citizen legislator. I thank him for his vote of confidence, for his military and legislative service to our great nation, and will do everything I can to be worthy of it.”

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, quietly released his first campaign television ad Thursday. The nearly minute-long spot called “Seen It All” has something for voters in nearly every part of the state.

More specifically, it focuses on the federal disaster relief Schumer said he’s championed over the past six years.

“Historic flooding after double-barreled hurricanes, a winter storm that buried Western New York under seven feet of snow and a dangerous superstorm like we’ve never seen before. Every time, Chuck Schumer was there to help,” the commercial begins.

It is referring to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, which hit upstate within weeks of each other five years ago, Western New York’s surprise November snow storm in 2014, and of course Hurricane Sandy, which caused about $75 billion dollars in damage downstate.

It wasn’t this term, but Schumer also reminded voters he helped secure the aid package “to help recover and rebuild” after 9/11 and referenced the Zadroga Act reauthorization, passed late last year to help first responders with health issues connected to Ground Zero.

Schumer won his last election in 2010 by a 34-point margin. His 2016 challenger, Republican Wendy Long, lost by an even bigger margin to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand four years ago.

Political analyst and former Schumer staffer Jack O’Donnell said early TV buys like this one are how candidates win by large margins.

“I think in a topsy-turvy year like this, with lots of static and distortion around the presidential race, you don’t wait. You talk directly to voters. It’s what Schumer does every week with visits to various media markets, and it’s what he’s doing with these commercials,” he said.

Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Wendy Long is trying to draw attention to what she believes is a widespread problem in New York State. She said people are stealing and vandalizing lawn signs supporting Donald Trump, Mike Pence and her.

Long said vandalism has been reported in Albany, Erie, and Rockland counties and is “likely more widespread.” She also expressed concern about a volunteer she said was assaulted by political opponents.

“In one case, a female volunteer with our signs was assaulted by an angry motorist who pulled a violent U-turn to come back and scream at her and then ripped away some of our signs. I call upon Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton to denounce this kind of behavior and ask their supporters not to engage in it any further,” she said.

The campaign is urging anybody having issues with theft, vandalism, trespassing, or assault to contact their local police. Long also wants people to report issues to the campaign on the campaign Facebook page, “including photos if possible.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Wendy Long is hitching her wagon to Donald Trump. Long’s hoping a strong showing from the presidential candidate in New York could boost her to an upset victory over Democrat incumbent Chuck Schumer.

“I’m with Trump. We are on the same page and if we get a chance we can turn things around in a hurry, so yes, absolutely I am running with him and if we get a chance we can make a big difference,” she said.

Long is taking part in the grand opening of the Western New York Trump Victory Center Saturday. The New York City attorney believes her campaign can utilize the volunteer headquarters as she organizes in Western New York.

“It is so exciting because I have volunteers contacting me everyday saying give me a job. What can I do? And now we can get them all organized and get them working,” she said.

Long, like her presidential pick, has a beef with the mainstream media. While Trump argues he’s treated unfairly, Long said she’s been largely ignored so far.

“When we’re with groups of people, they’re very enthusiastic. We’ve set up volunteer groups in all 62 counties which is very nice and they’re very excited really. So that part’s good. The tough part is the traditional media, getting them to cover this,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Republican opponent is taking him to task for the contributions he’s received from the chief executive officer of the company that boosted the price of the EpiPen.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Wendy Long pushed Schumer to return the donations from Mylan CEO Heather Bresch and the company’s political action committee.

Over the years, Schumer has received $10,000 in donations from the PAC and Bresch.

Mylan stoked controversy this month after hiking the price of the EpiPen, commonly used to inject anti-allergens.

“I am calling upon him to take those donations out of his $27 million campaign coffer and donate them to a worthy institution that treats children with life-threatening allergies who can’t afford EpiPens or with pediatric cancers like leukemia and Hodgkin’s who are suffering because of generic drug shortages that he causes,” Long said in a statement.

She suggested Schumer forward the money to either St. Jude’s Hospital or to Kravis Children’s Hospital at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

“And I’m not sure if there are enough zeros on the online button to do it, but why not give sick children the whole $27 million sitting in your campaign warchest? Renounce your sorry past as the King of Pay for Play in Washington,” Long said.

The increased price for the EpiPen — hike by some 400 percent — has led to bipartisan outrage toward Mylan as a generic version may soon be offered and calls for federal and state investigations grow.

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Wendy Long on Wednesday criticized Democratic incumbent Chuck Schumer after he declined to say whether he’d back the re-appointment of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

“Chuck Schumer, who wants to become the Rigged System’s Senate Majority Leader under the Rigged System’s President Clinton, refuses to say whether he wants Preet Bharara to remain as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York,” Long said.

Schumer last week told The Daily News he was taking a wait-and-see approach on whether he’d recommend Bharara, who has led successful prosecution efforts against top state elected officials from both parties, for another term in the new presidential administration.

“Let’s wait to see the results of the election,” he said.

U.S. attorneys are appointed by a president’s administration, but are often recommended by a state’s senior U.S. senator. Bharara has longstanding ties to Schumer as a former attorney in his Senate office.

Long, who has raised eyebrows in recent days for suggesting a rise in crime in Syracuse is tied to a new mosque, has in recent months adopted similar language of Donald Trump. In her statement, she pointed to Schumer’s campaign contributions from major financial institutions and law firms.

“The mainstream media seems to suffer from a remarkable lack of curiosity about Chuck’s role in the rigged and corrupt system of Washington, D.C.,” Long said. “Preet Bharara has proven a danger to the Rigged System.”

Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer is line to become the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate and, potentially, the leader of the majority.

But Republican Wendy Long wants to deny him that, including a fourth term.

“He’s salivating, basically, to become the majority leader of the U.S. Senate,” Long told reporters in the Binghamton area on Tuesday. “I don’t think that’s doing New Yorkers any favors.”

Long is running an uphill campaign against Schumer this year, her second bid for the U.S. Senate after she was defeated by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012 by a historic margin.

Long is undeterred of her chances, however, pointing to the success of “outsider” candidates like Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president.

“I think this year, 2016, is the year of the outsider,” she said. “People are so fed up with the Washington establishment and no one is more the face of that establishment than Chuck Schumer.”

Long even compared herself to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when it comes to generating campaign funds through a base of small donors in comparison to the war chest that’s being amassed by Schumer’s re-election campaign.

“I’m sort of like Bernie Sanders in that way,” she said. “I really believe that that’s the right formula for funding political campaigns — to get small donors involved. grassroots campaign.”

Wendy Long, the Republican running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Chuck Schumer, tied herself even more closely to Donald Trump on Monday, cheering his proposed economic plan.

In a statement, Long declared she is “100 percent behind” Trump’s push to cut taxes and regulations, which he rolled out today as he seeks to reframe his campaign following a difficult week.

“Donald Trump’s economic program is desperately needed by the American economy, suffering from historically low growth because of the foolish big government policies of Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer,” Long said.

In his remarks, Trump pointed to Hillary Clinton’s pledge as a U.S. senator representing New York to bring 200,000 jobs to the upstate region, which never materialized. Clinton has blamed George W. Bush and his administration’s handling of the economy for the lack of job growth.

“Upstate New York is a disaster,” Trump said. “What happened to Upstate New York is a disaster.”

Long said her statement that Schumer should receive some of the blame as well.

“We can’t let Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer continue with more of the very things that are killing our jobs, depressing wages, and crushing small business,” she said. “The Washington Post today details the abysmal failure of Hillary Clinton’s upstate New York jobs plan, saying it fell flat.’ Her BFF and crony, corrupt Chuck Schumer, has been as big a failure — and upstate county flybys won’t hide that fact.”